Lakis Theoharis, 56, the owner of the nearby Pepperoni Express, said: “I’m for the repeal of the tax. To me, the smaller the government, the better for the citizens.”

And Rich Masterson, 39, a trucking company supervisor, said, “I would love to see that!”

That view is exactly what most state and local officials in Massachusetts are afraid of. Amid the whirlwind presidential election, Massachusetts has a ballot contest of its own this November that could drastically alter — some would say cripple — state government.

At issue is Question 1, which would eliminate the state income tax. It would save the average taxpayer about $3,600 a year. Annual revenue from the tax is about $12.5 billion, roughly 45 percent of the state’s budget of about $28 billion.

“These are tough times for everyone as it is, and if Question 1 passes, things will become exponentially more difficult,” said Leslie A. Kirwan, the Massachusetts secretary of administration and finance.

Ms. Kirwan added that because some state programs cannot legally be cut, others would face cuts of 60 percent or more. The loss of billions of dollars from Question 1, she said, would devastate state services.

Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, has called the ballot measure “just a dumb idea.”

And elected leaders across the state are worried.

“The knee-jerk reaction would be, ‘That’s a great idea because it means more money for me,’ ” said Brook Padgett, chairman of the Board of Selectmen in Grafton, a town of about 17,000 near Worcester, which he said would lose 25 percent of its budget because of state cuts. “It would affect everybody — schools, police, municipal services, snow plowing. I couldn’t begin to tell you what we would do.”

Although Massachusetts is still often tagged with its “Taxachusetts” reputation, its recent history is more nuanced.

In 2000, voters approved a phased rollback of the income tax rate from 5.75 percent to 5 percent. The Legislature froze the rate at 5.3 percent in 2002, permitting further reductions only if economic conditions allowed.

In 2002, a ballot measure to scrap the income tax received hardly any public attention. But to the shock of elected officials, it netted 45 percent of the vote statewide and a majority in nearly a third of towns.

Now, with the withering economy, opponents fear that Question 1 will have even more traction.

Health care workers, small-business owners and unions are especially concerned about that prospect. A new group, the Coalition for Our Communities, has raised $1.3 million, about $1 million of that from national teachers’ unions, and plans television advertisements and direct mail campaigns against the repeal.

Karen White, director of campaigns and elections for the National Education Association, which has given $750,000, said the “reckless proposal” would have “dire consequences that will put education at risk, health care at risk, public safety at risk.”

She added: “We’re prepared to commit more money if we need to. We’re going to do what we need to do to make sure that we win this one.”

The pro-repeal effort, which gathered 11,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot, has much less money — about $25,000 left to spend, disclosure reports show.

“Politicians at the state and local level are overwhelmingly against us,” said Carla Howell, chairwoman of the Committee for Small Government, who ran for governor in 2002. “Everyday voters are much more inclined to end the income tax.”

Question 1 would cut the tax by half the first year and eliminate it the next year, and Ms. Howell said the state could compensate by cutting lucrative employee pensions, paring bureaucracies and spending wisely.

“We don’t have to cut any essential services or any government programs that are providing a benefit to the people of Massachusetts,” Ms. Howell said. “All we have to do is cut government waste.”

Some voters who wanted taxes lowered to 5 percent have decided to support Question 1 to show their anger at the state, said Barbara Anderson, director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, which advocated 5 percent but is now producing bumper stickers that read “Hell Yes! Question 1.”

“It’s the only game in town, it’s the only question on the ballot, it’s the only chance for us to express our outrage,” Ms. Anderson said. “The more we looked at it and realized that other states get along very well without an income tax, like New Hampshire, you start dreaming.”

The 5.3 percent income tax rate is far from the nation’s highest, and, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan group, Massachusetts, which used to rank second in combined local and state tax burden, now ranks 23rd.

Only seven states have no income tax, but while ballot questions on sales and other taxes are common, those proposing income tax repeals are rare, said Pete Sepp, a spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, which supports the Massachusetts measure. North Dakota has a ballot measure this year to halve the state income tax.

“There aren’t many places where you can initiate an income tax repeal from the citizens that haven’t already done it,” Mr. Sepp said.

Still, even before the anti-repeal campaign has begun in earnest in Massachusetts, there are many voters who think Question 1 is a bad idea.

One poll, conducted by 7News/Suffolk University, found 36 percent in favor of eliminating the tax and 50 percent opposed. Another poll, conducted by WBZ-TV, was closer: 45 percent favored scrapping the tax, 47 percent wanted to keep it.

“If it passes, you’re looking at least double or triple whatever your property taxes are now,” said Mike Kozlowski, who owns a garden store in Worcester.

Beth Piknick, a Cape Cod nurse who is president of the state nurses’ association, said: “This is really, really dangerous and extremely short-sighted. Unfortunately what happens is the populations that are most vulnerable get it first — the disabled, the elderly, the poor.”

In Grafton, where voters were evenly divided on repeal in 2002, people like Henry Cyr, 63, a retired Air Force officer, said, “The trauma to our financial system would just be too great.”

And Marcia LeBlanc, 66, a school bus driver, said: “I don’t think it’s a good idea. How are they going to pay for state services?”

State Representative George Peterson of Grafton, a Republican who voted for repeal in 2002, declined to say how he would vote this time.

“If we lose $12.5 billion, can I build a responsible budget with that loss in revenue?” Mr. Peterson asked. “No, I can’t.”

But he suggested that if the repeal passed, even though it is technically binding, the Legislature might be forced to find a way around it and pass a new law setting taxes at the 5 percent rate voters asked for eight years ago. “I’m telling my constituents, if you want to send a message that we have a budget that is out of control, send me that message.”

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